Remains of Shell worker and baby coming home

KUALA LUMPUR: Shell employee Tambi Jiee, whose family of six perished in the Flight MH17 crash, will be the third family member brought home today after his wife and a son on Aug 22.

The bodies of Ariza Ghazalee, 47, and their eldest, Mohd Afif, 19, were among the first batch of 20 Malaysian victims flown home on the national day of mourning.

Also arriving here from the Netherlands today will be the remains of one-year-old Benjamin Lee Jian Han, who died together with his mother, Universiti Malaysia Sabah lecturer Ng Shi Ing, 33, and aunt Elisabeth Ng Lye Ti, 30. The sisters’ ashes had been sent back separately.

Tambi, 49, was returning home with his family after completing a three-year stint in Kazakhstan. The Sarawakian couple’s other two sons, Mohd Afzal, 17, and Mohd Afruz, 13, and daughter Marsha Azmeena, 15, have yet to be brought home.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the arrival of the two Malaysians’ remains will be accorded full military honours.

The ceremony will be attended by family members and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“With the return of these two citizens, 35 MH17 victims have successfully been repatriated back to Malaysia,” Liow said in a statement yesterday.

The 35, he added, included restaurateur Jenny Loh Yan Hwa, a passenger with dual citizenship, along with Dutch citizens Fan Shun Po and Paul Goes.

Fan was the husband of Loh while Goes was killed in the tragedy with his Malaysian wife Subashni J. Retnam and their young daughter Kaela Maya Jay Goes.

After the official ceremony, Tambi’s body will be flown to Kuching via Royal Malaysian Air Force C130 aircraft while Lee’s will be taken to the Xiao En Bereavement Care Centre in Cheras here.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, with 298 people on board, including 43 Malaysians, was shot down over rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine on July 17.

Thus far, 199 victims have been identified.

Of the 43 Malaysians on board, the remains of 34 citizens comprising 20 passengers and 14 crew members have been identified, with nine more still pending identification, according to the statement.

Liow added that Malaysia will be working with its international partners, especially the Netherlands government, to make sure that the remaining victims are reunited with their families.